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Blog Entries: 1 to 10 of 12
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May 2025
 The ever-lively Bill Cole began his talk with the question, “How could one ancestor be so much trouble!?!” That ancestor was – drum roll please – his father! It’s not that he didn’t know who his father was, Bill wanted to discover his father’s whole story, not just the genealogical basics. Until recently, he had a few family stories, gaps in his timeline, and more questions than answers. It was time for him to do some creative research.
Following Bill’s step-by-step case study affords us another way to look at – and look for – our own brick-wall or troublesome ancestors. I had a similar situation with my second great-grandfather, Anton Weis. Once I identified him by name, I was at a loss for how to find anything else about his life. That is, until I started looking beyond the usual sources and realized that where he was buried was not only a valuable clue but the key to completing his life story. Anton was buried in a Catholic cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. Catholic church records led to marriage and birth records, which led to newspaper articles, which led to his older brother, which led to finding his family records in Steinbach, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. Now his life story is full of names, dates, places, adventures, and connections.
The point of Bill’s presentation is to move beyond our genealogical “comfort zone” by investigating useful tips, exploring new avenues of inquiry, and utilizing our FAN clubs. Remember, there is always more to the story. We need to tear down those brick walls by re- examining records for overlooked details, seeking help from friends and family, exploring seemingly unrelated facts, and expanding our research boundaries. If your troublesome ancestor is associated with a particular faith or ethnic group, this may be a valuable clue to locate additional records. Creative thinking is key.
Bill’s first case-study tip said that when confronted with an obstacle, we need to ask where, when, how, why, and what so that our troublesome ancestors will trouble us no more. We need to move beyond our regular research methods and let creativity be our guide. According to Bill, “the harder we work the luckier we get!” How true.
Let us know if Bill’s approach has helped you with your troublesome ancestor. |
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April 2025
 I have used Fold3 in the past to locate Civil War records for my six ancestors who joined Union military branches in support of a united country. However, after hearing Marian Burk Wood explain how to fully utilize this amazing website, both for military and non-military records, I realize that I have only scratched the surface.
Marian walked us through how to navigate the home page of Fold3 by using the search and filter box to narrow the focus of our searches. By using keywords such as: name, date, place, conflict, military branch, and country to narrow down our search, our success rate increases. She also pointed out that the home page is not intuitive and searching a database that contains over six million documents that cover records from the Revolutionary War to Afghanistan and Iraq and vast amounts of non-military records would be time consuming without employing these filters.
I wanted to put Marian’s presentation to the test by looking for the military records of my father, Walter Charles Weis Jr. who joined the Navy toward the end of WWII. First, let me explain why this subject was of particular interest to me. Dad used to tell us that he wanted to “go to war,” but was sent to Occidental College for reserve officer training, then sent to radio school in Illinois, then to Mississippi, and finally to Texas to teach Navy pilots how to take off and land on aircraft carriers. He always joked that he was in the Navy but never saw a ship.
Using the methods I learned from Marian, I was able to find seven records that confirmed Dad’s stories. In March 1944, at the age of 17, my dad was enrolled at Occidental College in Los Angeles in the V12 program designed to rapidly train and commission officers in the Navy. When that program ended, he was transferred in February 1945 to the Naval Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois, for V6 reserve officer training. Reclassified as a Seaman 1st Class, he was sent to Pre-Radio Material School at Wright Junior College in Chicago, Illinois, in March 1945. Dad was then transferred to Gulfport, Mississippi, for Elementary Electrical and Radio Material School in April 1945. From Gulfport he was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas, in October 1945 to begin his training at the Auxiliary Air Station at Cuddihy Field. It was here that he taught link training to future pilots. Dad’s stories were true!
With the aid of Marian’s presentation, I was able to fill in the blanks about my father’s Navy service, find his service number for future searches, and use Google to find out the definitions of military shorthand. Now, I want to build a memorial for my dad.
What have you discovered on Fold3?
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March 2025
_Wm._R._Glover%2C_Robert_W._Doerges%2C_Bessie_Glover_Doerges_%26_Ada_L._Glover.jpg) Larry Naukam’s zoom presentation on the “History of a Place That Means a Lot to a Family” was filled to the brim with his wonderful memories of family vacations at an incredible family estate in Monroe County, New York. Larry walked us through the history of the land, house, and people who lived in, owned, and enjoyed the get-togethers, weddings, anniversaries, and daily events associated with his family place.
By utilizing some of the following resources, we can build our own story and give historical context to our ancestral home that will become an exciting new chapter in our family history:
Deeds Topographic Maps Newspaper Articles
Wills Business Directories Land Records
Google Earth Photographs Government Records
Biographies Homestead Records Sanborn Fire Maps
Local History Key Events Family Memories
According to Larry’s handout, the more we know about the homeowners the more we can bring our research into focus and fill in the blanks about our ancestral home. Were they first-time homeowners? What were their occupations? Was their home also their place of business? How was the property acquired? Did they build it themselves or purchase an existing home? Finding the answers to these questions will help to improve our stories.
Thinking about Larry’s topic, I decided to look into the residences of my second great-grandfather, William R. Glover, after his arrival in Los Angeles in 1902 from Indiana. One reason why I chose William is that I have photographs of two of his residences/businesses and can trace his locations using Los Angeles City Directories and plot them on current Los Angeles street maps. From 1902 to 1903, William was rooming at 204 ½ Commercial Avenue. In 1905 his home was located at 407 Lake Shore, and his blacksmith shop was at 411 Lake Shore. By 1906 he had moved his blacksmith and wheelwright business to a two-story building at 121 Lake Shore with his living quarters upstairs. For the 1908 to 1909 directory listing his address had changed, but his location remained the same because Los Angeles had renumbered the streets, and he worked and resided at 137 Lake Shore.
I have a great deal more research to do on Grandpa Glover’s various residences and businesses. One noteworthy fact about the two-story blacksmith shop on Lake Shore is that on August 18, 1906, at 7 p.m. a tiny little girl named Dorthis was born in one of the upstairs bedrooms. She was a month early and weighed only 3 lbs. 8 oz. She was William’s first-born grandchild and my sweet grandmother.
What interesting history can you find about your ancestral home?
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February 2025
 Divorce! Separation! Alienation of Affection! Oh, my! It sounds like something ripped from today’s tabloid headlines. Who knew that something so commonplace today could provide a vast wealth of information about our ancestors who dared convention and filed for the dissolution of their marriages? Clearly, after listening to Christine Cohen’s fascinating presentation Alienation of Affection: Divorce in the United States, we will be digging deep for information on the people in our family trees. Oh, the stories to be discovered! I am looking forward to diving into this unique topic and finding out why my maternal grandfather divorced his first wife after only six years of marriage in 1916.
Christine’s description of the timeframe for divorce in America, and the very public embarrassment that frequently followed the individuals involved, was a real eye opener. How many of us knew that divorce – though rare – has been available since we were a collection of colonies? Some of the grounds for legally dissolving one of those early marriages are still relevant today – adultery, bigamy, impotence, abandonment – and even the occasional case of wife-beating (or husband-beating), insanity, or imprisonment. Getting a divorce wasn’t a private matter, as the parties had to appear in court and air their “dirty laundry” for the record and often found their lives laid bare in the press. A boon for researchers; an embarrassment for our ancestors.
After the American Revolution, divorce cases were moved from Federal Court to State Court and by 1867 were moved once more to the County Court system. Divorce case files will contain dates, places, maiden names, depositions, children born to the marriage, and the decisions handed down by the court. In addition to court case files, check for blended families and marital information in census records to identify possible divorces or separations. Knowing where to focus your energy will prevent wasted effort.
Upon returning home from Christine’s presentation, I jumped right into my genealogical records to locate the individuals who divorced their spouses. The earliest divorcée I have found is my 3rd great-grandmother, Sophia Elenor (Gueswell) Boeker, who is recorded in the 1880 Illinois census with all her children, no husband, and a capital ”D” under civil condition. As it turns out, the following people in my family have also been divorced: Guy L. Weed, grandfather, divorced in 1916; William R. Glover, 2nd great-grandfather, divorced in 1916; Robert W. Doerges, step great-grandfather, in 1919; Ada L. (Glover) Crockwell, great-grandaunt, in 1925; Charles H. Glover, 2nd great-granduncle, in 1899, 1903, 1907, and 1915 – five wives, four divorces! My next step is to find the court records and newspaper articles to add to their life stories.
Do you have any ancestors who have filed for and received a divorce?
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January 2025
 I guess that I am just becoming an old softy, because I genuinely look forward to our members’ Show & Tell program every year. I never know which presenter will inspire me or others to take on new projects in pursuit of our collective genealogical endeavors. This year’s talks covered such topics as the new look of the WAGS website, Civil War research, photography, and how a genealogy fan chart coupled with inherited scrapbooks inspired new avenues of research.
First up was Rick Frohling, our intrepid Newsletter Editor and Webmaster. His presentation focused on our new responsive website that has been in the works for the past half year or so. Rick gave us an overview of the new site and walked us through each section, giving us a preview of what the future looks like. Currently, we are “in the queue” for the transition from old to new. I have to say, our WAGS future looks bright! Thanks for all your hard work Rick.
Next up was our Program chair, Christine Cohen, with a PowerPoint presentation on researching her Civil War third great-granduncle, William Coleman. William died at the young age of 21 at the Battle of Vicksburg. Christine did a deep dive into William’s Civil War activities and discovered that he had been court-martialed and imprisoned for going AWOL. She spoke of all the records she located through NARA, Fold3, Battlefield.org, and Ancestry.com and how they helped to fill in the story of his short life.
Third was my PowerPoint presentation about “Discovering My Family History Through Photographs.” It was Sara Cochran’s November presentation on the history of photography and how to organize, digitize, and preserve photographs for future generations that inspired my talk. I began with some of my earliest tintypes. I then progressed through cabinet cards and black and white photography, finishing with a digital image. In the process of organizing my inherited collection, I delved into the history of each image, the people and places photographed, and their relationship within in my family tree. It is a work in progress as I have many more boxes of photographs to file.
Charter member Bonnie Morris spoke about how she incorporates her historical family photographs into beautiful keepsake Christmas ornaments for her extended family. First, she digitizes her photos so she can reduce them in size for her annual holiday mementos. Her next step is to attach a brief identification on the back of the ornament, she then includes an information sheet that briefly retells the life story of the pictured individuals. This year’s ornament featured the life story of John Q. Wall and his wife, Betsy. I wish I had someone like Bonnie in my family.
Our fifth speaker was Marisa Reyes, our WAGS Historian, who inherited an antique photo album and scrapbook album from her great-grandmother, Mary F. Brown. With her new-found family connections from her research trip to the Orange County Family Search Center and this wonderful collection of prints, she hopes to expand on her family history. Her goal is to match these photos with historical research and share this information with her extended family. She called her research plans “her retirement fun!” It all began with a simple fan chart. Keep us updated on your progress, Marisa.
A quick reminder to our members both near and far, we host a member show and tell every year. Please consider sharing your genealogical treasures with us next year. We’d love to hear from you.
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December 2024
 From an early age, before I knew what a genealogist was, I was fascinated with the old photographs and stories that my mother, father, and grandparents shared with me. As time progressed, I began to investigate the history and stories about the individuals in these priceless artifacts. To augment my research into these treasures, I purchased three books: Unlocking the Secrets in Old Photographs, by Karen Frisch-Ripley, Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs, by Maureen A. Taylor, and Dressed for the Photographer – Ordinary Americans & Fashion, 1840-1900, by Joan Severa. Then I took Sara Cochran’s introductory course on preserving my family photographs. It was a game changer!
As the archivist of her family history, Sara has extensively researched the history of photography to date, label, organize, and preserve the vast collection of her photographic heritage. Sara explained that by knowing the progression of photographic milestones from glass plates to tintypes to film, we can narrow down the date when a particular image was taken. Using clues found on cabinet cards coupled with a knowledge of clothing styles, we can further narrow our focus to discover where and when the photograph was taken. The next step is to identify the person or persons in the photo. This is where our knowledge of genealogical research comes into play.
One of Sara’s statements about finding images in unlikely places struck a chord with me. While searching for a photograph for my brother’s retirement celebration, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of old photos, including tintypes, cabinet cards, and early black and white images in a Christmas-red May Company box. My paternal grandmother had collected them for me, but the box was stored at my parent’s home while I moved from apartment living to married life. The unopened box followed Owen and I when we moved into our current Whittier home in the late 1980s. Grandma’s box contained photos of three branches of her family – the Glovers, Labermans, and Doergeses. It was genealogical gold!
After sorting and identifying our photographs, our next step depends upon how we want to preserve, organize, or share our findings. There are as many ways as possible to do these steps are there are branches on our family trees. Some choices include photo albums, scrapbooks, digital photo books, family newsletters, family Facebook postings, regional history center collections, and attaching identified photos to online ancestry accounts. The important thing to remember is that the more we share our research, the more we are preserving these artifacts for posterity.
Sara’s presentation about the history of photography, how to organize and digitize our collections, and how to preserve and create a family history heirloom is especially important today because of the preponderance of smartphone photography. Will the metadata imbedded in these images be readable or recordable in the future? Will future descendants know who the people are in these electronic photographs? How many of us print or attach these photos to family history files, or upload them into our genealogy software? Thoughts to ponder as we work to preserve both the past and present for future generations.
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November 2024
Every genealogist knows that hidden within the vast wealth of genealogical sources are clues just waiting to be discovered. Sunny Morton’s presentation is about one of the sources we tend to overlook. It is not as obvious as the items on our usual check list – census, immigration, birth, marriage, death, military, and tax records – but it can lead to new discoveries about our ancestors. What is this source you ask? The answer is U. S. Church Records!
Sunny opened her talk with the rhetorical question, “Why Church Records?” The simplest answer is because we may eventually need them to fill in some important blanks in our family history, such as birthplace, original spelling of names, migration patterns. Church records can also act as substitutes for missing civil records. Archival registers and sacramental records can hold clues to birthplace, birth, marriage, death and burial locations. Letters of transfer from one church to another can illustrate migration patterns giving insight as to where other resources may be found.
Burial and remembrance cards can help in locating a church record. Obituaries in newspapers often list the officiant, church or chapel, and cemetery which can direct your search into new directions. Marriage records can also be enlightening as to family origins. Take the case of my maternal second great-grandfather, Dennis Weed, and his wife, Rhoda Henrietta Sisson, who married in the Protestant Dutch Reform Church of Leeds, in Greene County, New York in 1839. I was curious as to why they were married in this denomination. Looking back one more generation I discovered that Dennis’s mother, Catherine Chrisler/Kreussler was the descendant of Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam which opened an entire new line of research to me.
Knowing your ancestor’s ethnicity can be a vital clue as to where to look for church records. Once I discovered that my father’s ancestral line was German Catholic, it was almost child’s play to follow the clues in the church baptismal and burial records. At this time, I want to acknowledge the invaluable help I received from my husband’s cousin who was the archivist at the St. Louis Archdiocese. She sent me marriage, baptismal, and burial records for my Weis line which had been my brick wall for years. Lastly, my maternal Swedish grandmother, Esther Östman Weed’s line was easy to follow, if not easily translated, because the Swedish Lutheran Church lists everything in their church records, including when they moved to another country.
Using Sunny Morton’s book, How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records, can help to fill in your record gaps and open entirely new avenues of research. Church records can be a valuable aid to genealogical research and can even lead you backward to find ancestors you might have never found through any other documents. And, if you are lucky enough to descend from Quakers, you will enjoy the wealth of records that detail your ancestor’s daily lives. Let us know how church records helped to bring down one of your brick walls.
Happy searching!
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October 2024
It is always a pleasure to attend a presentation by our own Christine Cohen and September’s talk on naturalization and citizenship didn’t disappoint. Christine posed the following question: “Do we have all of our ancestors’ citizenship information?” Before we can answer this query, we need to understand that the United States naturalization process has a complicated history. To successfully find these records we need to familiarize ourselves with the changing citizenship requirements over time.
Naturalization by the Federal Government was established in 1789 in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. Within a year, the Uniform Rule of Naturalization stated that any free, white alien male with two years’ residency could apply to become a citizen at any court of record. Within three years the residency requirement increased to three years before submitting first papers and an additional five years before the filing of second papers. Over the next 170-plus years, the process took many twists and turns until finally settling into something that only vaguely resembles the original process.
Christine noted that during the early years of applying for citizenship, the requirements were very basic: reside in the United States, have good moral character, and swear allegiance in a court of record. Speaking of swearing allegiance, my great-grandfather, Jonas Ivar Östman who immigrated to America in June 1881 signed the following:
State of Minnesota, County of Ramsey, District Court, Second Judicial District
I, J. I. Ostman, do swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America, and that I do absolutely and entirely Renounce and Abjure forever, all Allegiance and Fidelity to every Foreign Power, Prince, Potentate, State or Sovereignty whatsoever: and particularly to the King of Norway & Sweden whose subject I was.
And further, that I never have borne any hereditary title, or been any of the degrees of Nobility of the country whereof I have been a subject, and that I have resided within the United States, for five years last past, and in this State for one year last past.
Subscribed and sworn to in open Court, this 14th day of April 1890 – J. I. Ostman
There are numerous records that could hold clues to finding out if your ancestors filed for naturalization. The Federal censuses of 1820, 1830, 1870, 1890, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950 all include questions for foreign-born respondents about immigration and naturalization. Some state census records include questions also asking about immigration, naturalization, and residency in the state. Additionally, check military records, newspaper articles, voting records, and tax lists. Once you have narrowed down your search, check if you can get a digital copy of the declaration of intention or the actual naturalization document. What a treasure that would be.
Christine’s talk has encouraged me to find out how many of my foreign-born ancestors who arrived here in the 1800s applied for citizenship. So far, I have found that my German-born two times great-grandfathers, Anton Weis and Henry Doerges and my three times great-grandfather, Bernhard Laberman, all became citizens around 1870. My Irish two times great-grandfather, William Russell, immigrated to the United States from Canada in 1861 but waited to become a United States citizen until the early 1900s. Now I need to locate copies of their paperwork to add to my own genealogical treasure!
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September 2024
It has been a while since WAGS members participated in a field trip and this recent venture to the Orange County Family Search Center was both fun and a genealogical success. Without trying to sound like an advertising brochure, the FSC has amazing volunteer staff ready to help visitors get started or dig deeper into their family history. The center has about 24 large-screen desktop computers, free equipment to digitize videos, photos, slides, and 8mm film, and free thumb drives if you forget to bring yours.
Our group of merry researchers consisted of Brian Swanson, Marilyn McCarty, Cyndy Hartman, Gerhard Schaefer, Marisa Reyes, Barbara Gile, Christine Cohen, Trish Stumpf-Garcia and friend, Rebecca, Janice Zolnekoff, John Theilen, and me. We each came hoping to find answers to our genealogical questions about immigration, birth, marriage or death records, military participation, or family mysteries. From the smiles and happy chatter around the facility, I believe that the trip was a success.
Brian’s research focused on his maternal grandfather’s line who had immigrated from either Russia or Germany. He found that his ancestors had immigrated to the United States through Canada into North Dakota when his grandfather was a young child. Brian was delighted with all the new information that he found.
Christine found her Civil War ancestor, Samuel B. Owen, who was in Union Company H 146th Illinois Infantry and received his pension from the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Other new details included his wife and six children, his occupation as a day laborer, and the fact that he didn’t own any land.
Janice told me this was her first trip to a Family Search Center, and she was very impressed by the facility, how helpful and kind the staff were, and how welcoming and clean it was. She saved some draft registration and census forms to a thumb drive and added her third great-grandparents to her family tree on the Family Search website.
Barbara said that the field trip was a “lovely, cool way to spend a hot day in August.” This was her third trip to a FSC over the last fifteen years, and all the new upgrades and excellent help have motivated her to finish her grand- and great-grandchildren’s genealogical charts.
Trish found a page from a German Village Family Book that she had overlooked years ago when visiting an FSC. She also located the marriage entry for her ancestor from that village. Her friend, Rebecca, also made some wonderful finds.
Marisa felt that the field trip gave her the wonderful opportunity to learn more about computer research methods and credited the center volunteer with helping her to print out beautiful, full-color fan charts. She said that she learned so much and will be going back!
John said his main motivation for going to the FSC was to see what they had to offer. Secondly, he was focused on his great-grandfather and his three brothers who all fought in the Civil War for the Union. The helper showed him how to access Fold 3 and the results have encouraged him to plan another visit soon. He was very impressed with the Orange County facility.
As for me, I went hoping to find the immigration record for my Swedish great-grandmother and found a likely lead about an Inga Svensdotter who sailed in 1880 from Malmö to the United States. I also found the birth, marriage, and death records for my German fourth and fifth great-grandparents and their children. I was so focused on my research that the next thing I knew, it was 4 p.m. and we had to finish and exit the facility. I want to return, soon!
The OCFSC computers offer free access to Ancestry, MyHeritage, Newspaper Archives, American Ancestors, British Newspaper Archive, Find My Past, Fold 3, Geneanet, Irish Ancestors, The Genealogist and more. They are open Monday – Thursday 10 – 6, Friday and Saturday 10 – 4, and are closed on major holidays. My advice to you is to gather up all those pesky questions you’ve been unable to find answers to and get yourself down to the Orange County Family Search Center to spend a delightful day fixing those sticky problems in your family tree!
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August 2024
Dana Palmer’s wonderful presentation reminded me how far we have come and how good we genealogists have it today. Like many of my fellow genealogists, I began my ancestral search by quizzing my parents about family names and origins. Suffice it to say, these limited and tantalizing tidbits of knowledge left gaping holes that desperately needed to be filled. From my mom, I knew we were Swedish and English, my father’s surname was decidedly German, and their family stories – while entertaining – were not always accurate. I needed to find some official records to confirm what I had been told. Enter the LDS Libraries in Salt Lake and Los Angeles with their reference books, microfiche, and manually operated microfilm readers. Tedious, but it worked.
Fast forward several decades into the digital age and we now have access to many excellent avenues for researching our ancestral past right at our fingertips. Dana’s talk on Saturday about the resources available at FamilySearch.org took us on a whirlwind tour of the world’s largest free genealogy website with its new and impressive database and advanced search techniques – all the bells and whistles we never knew that we needed and all in one handy location!
One of the key points Dana made was to begin with broad searches and narrow our results as needed by using filters, lots and lots of filters. Just like it sounds, we are straining our results through finer and finer screens to achieve the best results. Don’t forget to try different search formats, such as name, location, or collection. Also, be forgiving of transcribers who misspelled our ancestor’s name and substitute wildcards – * and ? – when the alphabet isn’t actually being helpful. Even if our ancestor had an easy-to-spell name, we can expect to encounter spelling discrepancies. Just go with the flow.
From places to time periods, there is always something more to learn about where and when our ancestors lived. This is where the FamilySearch Wiki comes into to play by providing research advice and tips to help move our research forward. The Wiki allows us to search by keyword, place, topic, or collection, offers useful tools for understanding foreign languages, and best of all, has articles on how to use the FamilySearch website to its greatest advantage. Think of the Wiki as the Help Desk at our favorite big-box store. It’ll steer us in the right direction so we don’t wander up and down the aisles until we run out of patience. We’ve all been there.
To sum up, with the aid of Dana’s detailed handout, we’ll be able to make the most out of the FamilySearch.org website and maximize our efforts in finding those elusive ancestors. The next time you log on to FamilySearch.org, be sure to keep her outline handy, and bring it along when we travel to the Orange County Search Center in August. Let us know about your success with this valuable asset right at your fingertips. Happy searching!
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